


Compromise

by sceawere



Series: Checkmate [4]
Category: Vikings (TV)
Genre: Anglo-Saxon, Canon Disabled Character, Domesticity, Established Relationship, F/M, Political Alliances, Royalty, power couples
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 09:19:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15240237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sceawere/pseuds/sceawere
Summary: “We need a priest” you argued.“No, we don’t” he grumbled, sliding the book away across the floor, a little too close to the fire. You slapped it back, jostling him as you reached across. He huffed as you settled back, taking a little too long to get comfortable again, rolling his head on your belly to find the right spot.“If you want to do this right-“ he groaned as you continued “we’re going to need a priest”-Ivar learns that both being a husband, and a King require compromise.





	Compromise

“It’s quiet”

“Hmm” Ivar hummed from his place on the ground. He lay flat out in the sun that fell onto the grassy bank, arm hooked under his head.

You looked down at him, cast a look back, and then returned to peering out over the roadway.

“It’s  _quiet_ ” you emphasised, rolling your fingers around through a loop of string nervously. You turned it over and over, like a wheel before you, like the cogs turning in your brain.

“Not when you keep talking, it’s not” he murmured, eyes not opening until you gave his side a light kick. He frowned as he inspected the site of contact, unhooking his arm as he brought himself up to sitting.

“I’ve travelled this road twenty times and each time-“

“Oh, will you-“he interrupted.

“No, Ivar! Listen to me!”

“You remember that we’re not at war anymore?” he looked up to you, eyes wide and piercing.

“I thought we were at war with everyone, everywhere, all the time? You gave me a whole lesson on it, remember, because that’s your idea of polite dinner conversation” you shot back, and he returned your look, holding firm until you sighed and looked away.

“I’m just doing what you taught me. And what I learned from you even when you didn’t know you were teaching me. Your fondness for surprise and confusion taught me many things, including noticing signs that aren’t there as much as the ones that are and-” you crouched before him, bending over your knees to whisper to him “It’s too quiet, Ivar”

He sighed and looked away to where the rest of the army had parked up and spread out to rest. Travelling with such a band of people and supplies meant slow going and you still had maybe a week of travel ahead before you reached the section of land that Ivar’s group were allotted.

Splitting the land as equally between the brothers control as possible had meant everyone got something to rule without hovering over each other. The hope being that it would keep everything amicable between them. If not, the distance should help.

You weren’t sure how they’d adapt to ‘peacetime’ lives and trying to pre-empt any problems and avoid familial squabbles had kept you busy right up until the moment you joined said family. Ivar seemed to be doing well, considering. Although his assurance that your agreement forbade him only from raiding where you’d agreed and no further seemed to be calming him – you’d noticed the maps of the lands that had rejected your arrangement and expected to be spending the next summer alone already. It was strange to feel dread at the thought, but it sat in your gut all the same.

He kept staring off at the group and you huffed, moving yourself into his field of vision. You made sure to keep eye contact before speaking again.

“I’ve travelled this road twenty times and each time you could set your pace by the noise from the blacksmiths. It was a running joke among my father’s soldiers. The town just over the ridge is practically one giant workshop. There’s a dozen or more smiths and they make a hell of a racket and I can’t hear-” you paused to emphasise your point”…a single noise but the birds. Which don’t often nest here, because the water is so mucky and the air so smoky and they don’t like the noise”

You leant back a little before deciding to double down on your point “Which I can’t hear. Because there isn’t any”

He flicked between both your eyes and you tilted your head towards him, imploring him to consider your point. For all he nagged at you about forgetting the tactics of war, he continued to treat every conversation between you as a negotiation. It was infuriating. Most of the time. You had to admit, it was also enjoyable. While he’d fight back, he’d let you go for a while first and after years of having to hold your tongue around all but your father and brother, it was refreshing.

He turned back over his shoulder to the small creek that ran behind you and then up into the treeline.

“The water’s clear” he noted.

“And the airs fresh and there are birds nesting” you added. He leant forward a little more, eyes moving to the horizon that was barely visible down the road.

“It’s the middle of the day and its fine out. Why wouldn’t they be working?” he wondered, latching on to your argument,

“You used to see the smoke plumes, dawn ‘til dusk. Navigate by them. Why is no one working?” you joined his sightline, noted the clouds rolling around the hill.

“Because there’s no-one there to work” he turned back to you.

“You never raided out this far – did you?”

“No. Did they join your army? We might have killed them all” he half shrugged at the end and you shot him a look before continuing.

“We came to them before that second battle, asked them to smith for us. We promised them if they provided for the army, they wouldn’t have to serve in it” you shook your head, sighing and pushing up.

“Something isn’t right, Ivar”

He reached for his crutches and you knew better by now not to try and help him, staying staring off at the horizon that was beginning to grey. He called over to one of the men he trusted who seemed to be becoming a sort of second in command – if he would allow that. The position remained an unofficial, unnamed one, on account of your husband’s pride. They spoke between themselves for a few moments before the man ran off again and started rounding up a band.

“They’re going to scout ahead” he informed you before moving off towards the chariot.

“You’re-you’re not going with them!?” you stuttered out as you realised his intention and followed after him.

“Of course I am”

“No” you insisted.

“Wife-“

“Why do you insist on-What is it that you so hate using my name?” you questioned, more to yourself, as you trudged after him and slammed your hands against the side of the chariot “Ivar, don’t leave me alone with these people!”

He laughed to himself, preparing to ride out and you gripped your knuckles white against the wood, as if that would do anything at all if he decided to speed off.

“They’re your people now too” he pointed out, too much enjoyment in his tone for your liking.

“Only by marriage and partly by trickery” you tilted your head.

“I didn’t trick you” he rolled his eyes to you, suddenly a little more serious, though he still wore his smirk.

“No but you didn’t play entirely fair either!”

“And you did?”

You sighed.

“We’re getting off track and you’re getting off that seat because you’re not going into the mystery village and leaving me with-Ivar!” you jumped back and shouted after him as he set off, growling to yourself as you watched them disappear along the way. You huffed as the dust and dirt fluttered around the hooves and wheels of the disappearing figures, eyes turning to the slightly smaller crowd.

“I should have become a fucking nun while I still had the chance”

-

The sky was almost continuously grey by the time they returned more than an hour later and you’d about paced a new trail in the grass beneath the cover of the trees.

“There’s no-one there” Ivar explained and gave an order for the group to carry on down the road.

“What do you mean?” you questioned, eyes on the movement of the army.

“It’s abandoned. Looks like it has been for at least a few days, maybe even a week or two”

“I was here six months ago. It was thriving”

He shrugged again and started preparing to turn back.

“Ivar-“

“It’s safe. We checked everywhere. We checked around. I stationed guards” he stared you down and while his tone wasn’t reassuring, you knew the intent. He’d spent enough time chasing you from battle to battle to lose you to something stupid now.

“Alright. Then it’s safe” you acquiesced.

He never really seemed to know what to do once you agreed with him and it was almost funny to see him retreat back and flounder in his words.

“Well. Let’s go then. Unless you want to camp here in the mud and the rain with the pigeons” he motioned to you, regaining his mocking tone as he turned around.

“You know I could tip you off this thing or strangle you in your sleep or something?” you mumbled through gritted teeth as you climbed up after him.

He scoffed a laugh as you set off.

-

This felt odd. You both sat before the fire, Ivar down in the furs while you sat above him on a chest you’d pulled over. He studied the book on his lap, moving his head almost on instinct as your fingers worked through the braids. All you’d known together was war camps and stops on the trail. Being together between walls was something you hadn’t experienced before. It almost felt realer. More true. But still a little like playing house, with the remnants of someone else’s life all around you.

Surveying the place and following down the trails out in the opposite direction you’d come to the conclusion that they’d probably heard of their new oncoming rulers and decided it was best to cross the border back into ‘proper Christian lands’. Ivar was right.  _These_  were your people now, too. You didn’t fit neatly into either group. You were a bridge now. A compromise.

Ivar had worked his way through the Church documents and the records building in an effort to understand his new kingdom better. You were glad at how serious he seemed to be taking this, regardless of his motive. If he wanted to keep the lands he’d taken and prove himself as a ruler he had to be more than a good conqueror and he seemed to understand that. Or at least he was going through the motions of it. He was trying to study a book of land contracts but given that the lawyers had fled with all the others, the two of you were having to cobble together your scant knowledge of the wording.

“This one” he pointed to another word and you lent over his shoulder, your hair trailing over his chest as you rested your chin on his skin. The village had in fact been abandoned but most of the ‘non-essentials’ had been left in place and so there was still a working settlement ready to be picked up. You’d all taken full advantage, glad to feel a few more home comforts after sleeping in tents in random fields for the last few weeks.

“Uhhh…I’m not sure actually”

He sighed and turned his head to you, so close you had to lift your head to keep your eyes on him.

“What?” you questioned.

“You’re supposed to be helping me-“

“If I would have known one day I’d have to teach a heathen raider to understand legal documents I would have studied a little harder. But as it was, there were monks and priests to help with the Latin and so I didn’t. Too bad your lot tried to kill them all, isn’t it!” you stuck your tongue out at his snarl, lifting yourself back up behind him properly. His hand flew up to grab you hand when you gave a little tug to his hair and you laughed as he tried to pull you back down over his shoulder, fighting between the two of you.

You shrieked a little as you lost balance and went swinging around, dragging his arm at an odd angle and he gave a shout of his own as you met the floor. You couldn’t help the laugh that came as two of his guards popped into the room and you waved them off.

“It’s alright boys, it’s alright” you made out through the giggles and they looked between you both confused as Ivar nodded them away. He looked back to you on the floor and you smiled even wider at him as you got comfortable. He rolled his eyes but moved to his side anyway, head lying on your stomach as your fingers weaved back into his hair. This isn’t how you thought it would be.

“We need a priest” you argued.

“No, we don’t” he grumbled, sliding the book away across the floor, a little too close to the fire. You slapped it back, jostling him as you reached across. He huffed as you settled back, taking a little too long to get comfortable again, rolling his head on your belly to find the right spot

“If you want to do this right-“ he groaned as you continued “we’re going to need a priest”

“We don’t  _need_  a priest, you  _want_  a priest”

“Fine _, I_   _want_  a priest. I don’t accept your argument, but if it gets me a priest, then I’ll entertain it. How about that?”

He closed his eyes and didn’t reply so you tugged at his hair again.

“I don’t like it” he grumbled.

“You don’t have to. You’ll like what it gets you though. That’s the problem with warriors gaining kingdoms. They’re good at the taking, not so good at all the giving and not-so-fun ruling that comes after. You all think it’s going to be battles and feasts and fancy fun stuff and not counting grain harvests and making sure the roads aren’t flooded on market day”

“I prefer the fighting” he lifted a brow.

“Of course you do. Fighting’s simple. Just kill everyone. Can’t kill everyone at a council meeting” you lay back, scratched at his scalp, staring up at the joists. Whoever lived here before had been drying herbs and flowers when they left and they remained tied up around the beams.

“I could” he replied and you tucked your free arm behind your head to help look down at him.

“You could. But then no one would count the grain harvest and the carts wouldn’t move on market day. So suck it up and make some compromises, King Ivar”

He smirked up at you, rolling his neck to stare up himself.

“Where am I going to find a priest?”

“At a church?” you posed sarcastically and he heaved himself up, lifting the book and throwing it across the room to land back in the pile.

“I can’t believe you did that” you watched in shock, keeping your place on the floor as he made his way over to the bed.

“I can’t believe you care that much about a book you can’t even read properly” he shot back, lifting himself onto the edge of the bed with a groan. He settled and rolled his shoulder and you wondered if you’d actually hurt him.

“Books are precious, Ivar. They’re essential to our continuation as a society and as an enlightened people” you pushed up to rest of your elbows and he laughed at you.

“ _We_ never needed books and look where we are” he pointed out, combing back his hair with his hands.

You rolled your eyes and got up, following over to where he sat.

“Yes. Look at all the things you managed to steal. I’m sure you’re all very proud” you motioned around yourself, bringing your hands to settle on his shoulders, lifting one knee to perch on the bed beside his thigh.

His hands came to your hips and you leaned into him a little more, fingers tracing over the ink at his shoulder.

“You’re not proud of me, wife?” he asked, eyes wide, lips parted. He was trying to wind you up. Every word out of his mouth was made to wind you up.

You rolled your eyes away from the design on his shoulder to meet his gaze and tilted your head.

“I didn’t say that”

The ghost of a smile came to his face and you lifted the finger that had been tracing to flick his cheek. He wrapped his arms up around your waist properly and rolled you to the bed beside him, squealing as you flopped down on the blankets.

“Ivar! A little warning, for heaven’s sake”

He hummed a response, hand diving under the shirt you were wearing to trace your side as he lay kisses at your hip.

“God, I’ve missed real beds” you settled back, taking in the feel “Ow”

You tugged Ivar’s hair again as he nipped at your hip.

“What is it with you and pulling my hair?” he mumbled, trailing his way up.

“What is it with you and calling me ‘wife’? I do have a name,  _husband_ ” you reminded him.

“You don’t like it?” he asked as he settled next to you.

“I don’t understand it”

“I use your name sometimes” he hooked his arm behind his head again and you tugged the edge of the blankets up with your foot, kicking them into the reach of you hand so you could pull them up over you both.

“Rarely”

“I like it”

“It’s a nice name” you joked.

“I like calling you wife. I never thought I’d get to do it”

You paused, eyes softening as you crooked your neck and looked up at him.

“Oh”

He hummed in his throat, not lowering his eyes to meet yours. You lifted yourself onto your hands, hovered over him, and planted a kiss to his forehead. You dropped and rolled to your back, tucking your hair back as you settled in.

“Well, goodnight, husband”

“Goodnight, wife”

The fire crackled in the space between your words and the shouts from outside where it seemed they were taking full advantage of the wine that had been left behind echoed in.

“We should stay here for a few days” you whispered, shuffling a little closer to his side.

“Hmm”

You trailed your eyes over his profile, the light flickering behind him.

“I’d like a priest”

“Oh, for fucks-“he groaned and turned to his side.

“Hear me out, here!” you argued, resting on your elbow and wrapping an arm around his waist. You dropped your chin to his arm as he linked his hand in yours “I’ve got three main lines of argument that I think will-“

 


End file.
